Many devices are presently available which attempt in various ways to dispense a cleaner into a toilet bowl. These devices have many problems. Generally they dispense inconsistent amounts of cleanser or allow water to leak into the container thereby diluting the cleanser and greatly hindering the products effectiveness. A few packages require substantial adjustments before they may be used as dispensers. Other products which overcome these problems require intricate molding steps under close tolerances. Some units are inoperable unless constructed from rigid materials such as glass or require complicated inserts which prevent complete emptying of the container. The subject invention overcomes the problems and provides a simply manufactured, easily used, accurate and effective toilet bowl cleanser dispenser package.
One of the most common devices for dispensing cleanser into a toilet bowl is the type known as the "upstroke" dispenser; that is, the unit dispenses cleanser into the toilet tank when the tank is in the fill cycle. The cleanser is diluted by the water in the tank and remains there until the toilet is flushed again. Only about 15% of this tank water remains in the bowl after the flush cycle is completed. This dilution by the tank water and the low percentage of cleanser retained in the bowl by the upstroke type dispensers limit the number of formula performance options available.
One such device is that described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,698,021 to Mack et al. wherein a device for dispensing toilet bowl cleanser or disinfectant from a necked container is disclosed. The Mack et al. device has a shroud that fits over the neck of the bottle which shroud has slidably retained therein a float member consisting of a measuring chamber and an air bell. The measuring chamber has a series of outlets formed in the periphery of the upper wall and further has a projection for sealing a restricted discharge opening in the shroud to control fluid flow from the container. In operation the container is inverted in the toilet flush tank in a position which will allow the air bell to contact the water in the tank at the high level point. The bouyant force acting on the air bell maintains the projection of the measuring chamber in sealed relation with the discharge opening. The dispenser is activated by the reduction of the water level in the tank as the toilet is flushed. The float member then falls to its lower position and opens the container discharge opening to allow the measuring chamber to fill with the cleanser. The cleanser will flow until the level in the measuring chamber reaches the neck of the bottle and forms an air lock in the surrounding area within the shroud. As the tank fills to the high water mark, the float member is forced upwards to its original position thereby displacing the fluid in the measuring chamber from the outlets in the upper wall of the float into the tank.
To increase the number of formula performance options available, a dispenser that will deliver cleanser as the tank is emptying which would correspond to the "downstroke" action of the dispenser is preferred. When placed near the flush valve of the toilet tank, a downstroke dispenser will deliver cleanser directly to the portion of the tank water that is most likely to remain in the bowl after the flush cycle is completed. The downstroke dispenser will deliver approximately twice the level of cleanser to the toilet bowl as will current upstroke dispensers. As the cleanser is delivered directly to the bowl, formula dilution and/or degradation in upstroke dispenser delivery is reduced. At a minimum, when the downstroke dispenser is not placed near enough to the flush valve to exit before the flush valve closes, the delivery of the downstroke dispenser becomes the equivilent of the current upstroke dispensers. Accordingly, even in the worst of situations the downstroke dispenser will still work as well as the current upstroke dispensers.
However, downstroke dispensers have not been totally satisfactory to date because (1) there is poor sealing between tank water and the container interior, (2) the amount of air forced into the container varies with the depth of the container in the tank, resulting in inconsistent delivery among various makes and models of tanks, (3) the product clings to the sides of the dispensing mechanism resulting in poor dispensing operation, and (4) the molding tolerances to form the dispensers are too great to be economically feasible.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel downstroke dispenser for automatically dispensing a cleanser or disinfectant into a toilet bowl with a minimal loss of cleanser effectiveness.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a flexible package for a toilet bowl cleanser suitable for the retail market which also acts as a dispenser without adjustment when placed in the proper position.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an easily moldable dispenser package which has a minimum of critical tolerances.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an accurate and reliable dispenser for a measured amount of cleanser.